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Beware the power of the pen, especially if it belongs to Marilyn Hagerty.

The 85-year-old Hagerty, who writes for the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota, wrote a review of the new Olive Garden in town, which has become an Internet hit (video below).

On Wednesday, Hagerty wrote in her column entitled 'Eatbeat': "At length, I asked my server what she would recommend. She suggested chicken Alfredo, and I went with that. Instead of the raspberry lemonade she suggested, I drank water."

According to the Associated Press, Hagerty added that the Olive Garden is "the largest and most beautiful restaurant now operating in Grand Forks. It attracts visitors from out of town as well as people who live here."

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By Friday, only two days later, her Oilve Graden review got more than 290,000 hits on Grand Forks Herald's website.

Hagerty expressed surprise at all the attention: "I do not get it. I mean, I'm sitting here minding my own business yesterday morning, trying to get my Friday column finished off so I could go play bridge. And all of a sudden, all hell breaks loose."

Mike Jacobs, publisher of the Grand Forks Herald, said: "She writes five columns a week, and they are all this sort of this very direct, no-nonsense approach to what's going on. She has her detractors, but she's very popular. She's a real asset to the Herald."